Philip Hammond: Ministry of Defence has balanced its books

The cash-stricken Ministry of Defence will not be making any further cuts to
its budget, the defence secretary has announced.

4:05PM BST 14 May 2012

Philip Hammond, the defence secretary told the House of Commons that he has plugged the £38 billion "black hole" in the defence budget, which ministers said they inherited from the last Labour government.

Mr Hammond said he would keep in place a financial "reserve built in as a prudent measure to make sure we are not blown off-course by unforeseen events".

He laid the blame for the deficit in the defence budget at the feet of the previous Labour government, which "shirked" its responsibilities and presiding over "chaos that left a yawning black hole under our armed forces".

Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said the Government had already announced defence cuts until 2020 and claimed ministers had been "reckless where care was essential and timid where boldness has been required".